Religious Liberty Prayer List – No. 220 – Wed 21 May 2003

——————————————————– INDONESIA: PERSECUTION IN WEST JAVA; plus DAMANIK UPDATE ——————————————————–

In Bekasi, about 20km southeast of Jakarta in West Java, churches are being threatened and intimidated by local radical Muslim groups, and local authorities are doing nothing to protect the Christian minority or rein in the Islamist militants. Their campaign in Bekasi has intensified in recent months and is based on unconstitutional local laws. The original 1969 legislation simply required Christians to apply for a licence before building a church. Now, the new, highly restrictive legislation requires Christian groups to have at least 40 ‘heads of families’ before applying for a church building permit.

District Government Regulation No. 4/1998 calls for ‘serenity and orderliness’ in Bekasi. This has been invoked to close houses and a shopping centre at Lippo Cikarang used as church meeting places. Wanting to put an end to Christian worship, the various Islamist groups visit and threaten Christians in their churches. As a result, hundreds of Christians stay home instead of attending services. Christian outreach has virtually ceased due to this Islamist pressure. The government needs to uphold law, order and justice, as well as the believers’ constitutional right to freedom of worship.

The Rev. Renaldy Damanik is leader of the Protestant Christians in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, a community that has suffered greatly at the hands of the Laskar Jihad and rogue Islamist elements in the military. He is a known and respected peacemaker and advocate of disarmament. He is on trial in Palu on a false weapons charge, a plot to scapegoat him, supported at very high levels.

The final prosecution witnesses called on 28 April were a disaster for the prosecution, contradicting each other, forgetting the ‘script’, and testifying to police intimidation.

The defence team began on 5 May, being allowed to call eight witnesses. On 12 May, Prof. J E Sahetapy, an expert witness, and legislator with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, told the Palu District Court that the police engineered Renaldy Damanik’s arrest. Sahetapy called for Damanik to be acquitted of all charges, claiming his arrest and subsequent interrogation violated the Criminal Code.

Damanik’s detention has been extended until 23 May, when he must be released pending the outcome of his trial. The judges intend to conclude the case and deliver a verdict by 9 June.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY FOR:

* the Indonesian government and Bekasi local district government to promote law, order and justice, and uphold the Constitutional right of the Bekasi Christians to worship freely; may unreasonable restrictions be lifted.

* justice in the trial of Rev. Renaldy Damanik, praying for his release on 23 May, that he will be acquitted of all charges, and for those who have engineered this injustice to be disciplined.

* God’s presence and his working in all the judges’ deliberations, that as the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, righteousness and judgement, so they will be committed to doing what is right and just, regardless of popular opinion and Islamist pressure.

‘Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never- failing stream!’ Amos 5:24

WE PRAISE AND THANK GOD for his gracious and supernatural sustaining of Rev. Renaldy Damanik thus far, delivering him from sickness, threatened riots, an attempted poisoning, and the most dangerous of all – despair. Pray for God’s continued upholding grace and protection. See Psalm 138.

SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE: ————————————————————

PERSECUTION IN WEST JAVA

Christians in the West Java town of Bekasi (20km from Jakarta) are suffering increasing persecution from Islamist groups, and local authorities are doing nothing to rein in the militants. The local government has introduced restrictive laws that make it almost impossible for churches to operate legally. Christian outreach has almost ground to a halt. Believers are preferring to stay away from their churches rather than risk being attacked there by Islamist militants. Pray that the local and national governments will uphold their right to the freedom of worship granted by the Indonesian Constitution. ALSO, please pray for the judges in the trial of Rev. Renaldy Damanik who expect to deliver a verdict by 9 June.

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The WEA Religious Liberty Commission sponsors this RL Prayer List to help individuals and groups pray specifically and regularly for religious liberty issues, and in particular to uphold the Church where it is suffering persecution.

RL Prayer is moderated by Ron Clough, a commissioner of the WEA RLC and convenor of the Australian EA RLC.

Elizabeth Kendal researched and authored this message.